Castaway Wanderers congratulates the National Senior Womens Olympic Silver medalists

Castaway Wanderers would like to congratulate their pathway product, Caroline Crossley, and the National Senior Women's 7s team on their incredible run at the Paris Olympics culminating in a Silver medal.  It is a new level for a program that was reset just after the Tokyo Olympics and first Olympic medal for one of CW's pathway graduates.  Full marks to the head coach Jack Hanratty and his team that transformed a virtually brand-new team into a medal winner in a short 3 years. The timing was perfect as it was an Olympic 7s tournament for the ages.  It was a competition of high-quality rugby and excitement enjoyed over 6 days for both the men's and women's tournaments. The tournament organisers are to be commended for a fabulous spectacle that broke attendance records (the largest crowd to watch a female rugby game at over 66,000 fans) and offered worldwide coverage of rugby 7s format. It was a tournament that will not soon be forgotten and should provide a great boost to the growth of the game especially in North America with Canadian and US teams winning Silver and Bronze respectively.  

Castaway Wanderers were also represented by players who had worn the Tricolors over the years.  The try-scoring machine and 3rd time Olympian, Charity Williams, wore the Tricolours in its inaugural season in 2015/2016, and the NSW7s captain, Olivia Apps, has suited up periodically over the past few years.

At CW, our mantra is athlete development through a well-defined pathway.  While female pathways seem commonplace now, it was not the case 15 years ago when Caroline started in Minis. The pathway grew up around her and other female athletes in the club and the following sequence of photos shows her progress through Club, Provincial, and National pathways culminating in an Olympic selection and silver medal. Congratulations to Caroline, her teammates, and the fabulous "support team behind the team" led by Jack Hanratty.

Caroline playing in the early years of CW girl's program

Representing BC U16 team in the Nationals

Striding out for Maple Leafs at the Amsterdam 7s

           

Competing in the 2024 Olympic Final vs Black Ferns 7s